Weaving Paths
by nicolehough
Summary: The war is over and the dark have won, this follows Hermione in her quest to lead a normal life. Her life is changed durastically, No Ron, No Harry. Eventual DMHG
1. The aftermath

This is going to be a story that I will hopefully not lose interest in, I am planning on eventually getting the others done, but people dont seem too interested in most of the plots... it would be great if you could leave a review.

**_Disclaimer: I am only posting this once. I do not own the characters or places unless you do not recognise them from one of the books. JK Rowling is the creator of this magical world and all characters and places ect. belong to her or Warner Brothers or Scholastic or Bloomsbury, or whoever the hell it is that owns it. _**

**The aftermath.**

The war was over and the result was sad. Harry Potter was dead, and Voldemort was reigning over the wizarding world.

All those with the socalled 'dirty blood' were murdered, save for a select few that were done studying at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

One of those lucky few were Hermione Granger. She hadn't a clue why, but she was spared. OK, so she was the brightest student to ever step foot out of Hogwarts, but so what. She was a known supporter of the order of the Phoenix and a good friend of Harry Potter.

Needless to say, life was rough for her. She had tried to live as a muggle, but that was just not possible for her after all the magic she had discovered.

She was on her way to go and live with one of her best friends brother's in Diagon Alley. The Weasley twins. Their brother, Ron was killed trying trying to avenge Sirus Black's death. They were fighting on the Riddle's property. Ron was levitated, and then dropped by Beladrix Lestrange, and he was impaled on a fence.

What came to her was not a prety sight. Hermione who had been Ron's girlfriend since the beginning of their last year at Hogwarts took Belladrix's life.

Hermione followed Beladrix down the hill towards the town, and noticed off to one side that there was a small graveyard. Hermione called for Beladrix and stunned her when she looked around. Hermione being the tiny thing that she was then dragged her up the hill slightly, and into the graveyard.

'Consider this an easy death.' Hermione had said as she levatated Belladrix to a wooden cross in the middle of the graveyard. She then shot razor sharp nails through her hands and her feet.

Belladrix whailed in pain as she regained conciousness from the stun. Hermione then bent down and from around her ankle in a holster she pulled out a dagger. She thrust it into what was left of Belladrix's heart countless and then trudged herself out of the graveyard muttering and hystarical about what she had just done.

When she returned to the top of the hill it was all over. she found Harry's body. It was laying. So peaceful. Under the most vibrant Dark Mark she had ever seen. It was the colour she recognised as Harry's eyes.

Hermione shook herself from the terible state of mind that she was in. The new knight bus driver had come and told her that they were at the Leaky Cauldron.

The new driver was in no way quite as nice as Earnie, but he could have been worse. The seccond that she stepped off the bus,and into the pouring rain, it disappeared with a defening crack.

Tom, the barkeeper, was still at work, though he didnt have as many pleasent customers as he usually did. Most of the people who came in around this time of year were those who were of muggle heritage, and who's children had just recieved their letters. These days, it was only purebloods, and half-bloods pretending to be pure, that walked through those doors.

Tom was happy to see Hermione, a friendly, familiar face.

'Hermione Granger! How glad I am to see you. Would you care to stay for a quick drink?' He asked. A few people looked up when they heard the name.

'Sorry Tom, I'm running late, but I am moving in with the Weasley twins, so I will be sure to stop in some time.'

One of the people who looked up when she entered, followed her with his eyes as she approached the back of the bar towards the entrance to diagon alley.

She walked out into the rain, and slowly proceeded down the alley. When she approached a building that stood out against the rest she knew that she had found the place. She went around back and found a set of stairs that loked as though they would be a fire escape from the building.

She re-read the note that said to climb the first set of stairs that she saw when she got behind the building.

When she was about halfway up, she felt the stairs give way and then she felt as though she was going down a slide. When she hit the cold, wet ground she cursed.

It wasn't like her old self, but she did anyways. The door at the top of the stairs opened and she could see two figures step out. Even in the pitch black of the night she could make out their red hair and she could tell it was the Weasley twins.

'Now Fred, I could have sworn that you dissarmed the security system.' said George.

'And I could swear that you said the same.' replied Fred.

'And I could use some help, by one of you disarming the security system and letting me out of the bloody rain.' said Hermione.

George then stuck his wand in a tiny hole and muttered for a few secconds.

'There you go. That should be good now.' he said.

She climbed the staris, hesatating at the first step. When it didnt move she proceeded to the top of the stairs.

She reached the top, releived that she didnt have to go down the slide of stairs, and she threw her arms around the twins, who greeted her like a sister.

'Do come in.' said Fred.

They led Hermione into what from the outside would look like a small two bedroom apartment, into a whole entire house. It was quite plain, considering who owned it. The walls were white in the open concept house.

'What does it look like to you?' George asked.

'pardon?' hermione asked.

'The room... explain your colour scheme!' he said almost urgently.

'Well it's white, with textured tan furniture and stainless steel appliances in the kitchen' Hermione said as though it were quite obvious.

'Well thats a boring one' said Fred.

'Excuse me? I'm not the designer here. Its not my house.' she retorted.

'Oh, but it is. We just developed a new product that when applied to different surfaces, will appear to be different to different people depending on what they are feeling at that particualr time.' He explained

'Well,' Hermione said quite in shock, 'what do you two see when you look at it?'

'Mine is lime green walls, dark stained wood floors and electric blue furniture.' said George

'For me it has yellow walls, pale green furniture, and a really light stained floor.' said fred. 'It's usually more vibrant, but I need to relax.'

'Well thats rather interesting. How did you come up with that idea?' she asked.

'We were in the streets of london one day and we saw a redecorating shop, and we decided that it would be easier for people if they didnt have to always redecorate, so we,'

'with some help from a few decorating guru's,' inserted Fred

'Designed a type of paint that would go on anything and that would show up as what ever the person wanted at that particular time.' Finished George.

'But the enitre house isnt done yet... it takes a while to put the paint up, seeing as you cant use magic to put it everywhere. You have to think like a muggle, and put it up using rollers and such.' said Fred.

'Thats interesting,' said Hermione as she yawned 'but I am getting rather sleepy. Could you show me to a room please?'

'Right this way young one!' said George almost too enthusiastically.

They directed her down the hall, and to a nice large room with its own ensuite bathroom and a walk-in closet.

'Thank you so much.' Hermione said

'Oh its not a problem, after how happy you made our brother and how well you took revenge. I just want to say thank you for that. You have no idea how much it meant to us.' Said Fred. George nodded in agreement.

She said good night and they proceeded down the hallway to their own rooms.


	2. the first day

**The first day.**

Hermione awoke the next day, to the smell that you inhale on a summer morning when you are out in the woods after it rains. That smell that makes you want to melt. That smell slowly changed to that of eggs and bacon and toast and... oh it couldn't go on. Hermione felt her stomach growl and she left her bed to go get some breakfast.

As she went down the hallway she saw that the colours had changed, the walls were a light yellow and the furniture was bold black leather. she thought that they looked rather comfy as well.

'What would you like for breakfast today?' asked Fred, who was over the stove.

Hermione opened her mouth to speak, but was inturupted by Fred.

'Two eggs, four pieces of bacon and two pieces of toast is right isnt it?' said George peering over Freds shoulder.

'Um, yes please?' she said confused.

'Muggles have great inventions. But wizards have magic to help them along. This pan,' he showed her a cookie sheet 'was enhanced by us to suit the needs of any person.' said Fred.

'Have you sold many of these yet? I think that they would be big sellers.' sail hermione

'No, I dont think that they would fit in with the whole _joke shop_ thing we have going on.' said George 'We would need to make a whole new line, of helpful, household products. Why have a house elf to do the cooking and cleaning if you can have devices that do it instead.'

'Oh, but you can't do that, that would be completely getting rid of their jobs, that wouldnt be good.' She replied

'Oh dont fret Hermione, they are a long way off of being perfected.' george said as he set down her plate.

Hermione took a bite of her toast and was utterly confused, because her toast tasted like bacon. 'Why does-'

'Thats what we mean when we say we havent perfected it yet. Its just the taste thats wrong, at least its not toxic anymore.' said fred

'Well i guess thats an up side.' said hermione 'What are you two up to today?'

'We have a shop to run, speaking of which, we have got to run down there now, we are after all opening in 5 minutes.' with that the twins left down a stairway and into the shop below.

Hermione, who was eager to get out for a bit of fresh air left the shop and went to the ice cream shop down the way. When she paid with her last sickles, she decided it was most likely time that she went to get more money out of her account that her parents had set up for her.

When Harry died, he left her a substancial amount of money. All the money he had was divided between herself and the Weasley family. She got the Black house, but she decided that she would not live there. It seemed that whoever called that place home ended up dead.

When she arrived at the bank, she noticed that things had changed quite a bit. instead of having many tellers along the walls, there were only four with long lines behind them. She was about to go and join one of the ques, when she saw that a goblin was headed towards another desk.

'Hello, my name is Hermione Granger, I would like to get some money out of vault 822.' she said

'Do you have proof of identity?' the goblin asked.

'Would a muggle drivers lisence be alright?' she hesitantly asked.

'I will accept it this time, but you should know that not all goblins are as kind as me. I would advise you to get a wizards information and magic identification card, or for short a WIMIC, They are afterall very usefull.' The goblin said this all very fast, so it seemed as though he was very impatient.

'Where would I be able to aply for a Wimic?' she asked

'You could fill out this form on the way down to your vault, and hand it back in to me on your way out of the vault. Then it would be a matter of minutes before you get it.' with that he handed her a form and then sent her off with a goblin to go to her vault.

She hoped in one of the carts, and she read and filled out the form on the way down. It had the regular questions like name, birthdate and age, but then it also had your blood type with the selections pure, half and mud. She was appauled at that, but she circled the coresponding type.

When she got out of the tunnel which too her about 20 minutes, she was done with the form, and handed it to the first goblin she met that day. He excused himself from the customer he was serving and went to help her get it all approved. He read through and saw that she was muggleborn.

'Ah, I see that you were one of the few lucky ones that were allowed to live? Why did they allow you to live?' he asked.

'I graduated top of the year from Hogwarts.' she said

'Oh, so your a Hogwarts student?' he asked 'I was going to go there, but they would allow it, they said that nobody with goblin heratige was allowed to attend that school. Yet they do have a ghost teaching, and someone who is part goblin. Its absurd!' he shouted.

'That is ridiculous! The law states that anyone who wishes to recieve a education may do so!' she said.

'But you see young lady I am not considered _anyone_. I am considered a goblin. Not a person.' He said as he handed her a card. 'But i must be getting back to my job, so good day to you, and I hope to have the privelidge of serving you once again.' He bowed, although it was not nessesairy.

She left and decided that she would go to the Leaky Cauldon to have a couple of drinks with Tom.

'Hello Tom! How are things going for you?' she asked

He looked around sulkily 'They have been better. I remember when this room was filled with laughter and happiness, now secrets and lies are all that radiate through here.' he said

'Well thats no good. You have to have a few people that still come in and brighten this place up.'

'There is you. You are the only one who walks in here with a smile, and back out with the same one.'

Just then a man approached the bar and asked for a fire whiskey. She thought that the man was rather attractive. He had short brown hair with hints of blonde showing through, and walked with the air of someone who was athletic.

'Hello, I'm Hermione.' She said as she heald out a hand.

'Are you sure you want to shake my hand?' The man asked. 'I am afterall, oh lets see, how did you put it, oh yes, I am afterall a foul loathsome evil little cockroach.'

'You!' she said 'You are the reason Dumbledore is dead, you are the reason Harry had no guide to kill the dark lord. You-' with that he placed a hand over her mouth.

'I would keep it hush hush about who you are and who you supported.' He said. 'There are a few people here who lost loved ones to your precious Harry.' he then removed his hand from her mouth.

'You know, if looks could kill, you would be dead.' she said glaring daggers at him ' What are you doing here anyways? Arent you spposed to be out there helping your master!'

'Me? A death eater? I would never resort to that.' he said

'I'm sure, thats why you let a dozen death eaters in the school, and had Dumbledore killed.' she replied rolling her eyes.

'Don't talk about things you know nothing about!' he shouted, by this time most of the bar was straining to keep out of the conversation. Tom had already excused himself. 'I was not going to murder him.' he whispered. 'My father took me to the dark lord!'

'Bullshit' she said ' You know that you wanted to go, you want to be just like your father!'

'I-I-I never want to be like my father. He is a cold blooded murderer.'

'So you could honestly say, that without a doubt, that your father is the one who told you to join the dark lord in the fight against Harry, and that given the choice, you would have fought on the light side?' she asked.

'_If _I had the choice, I would not fight at all.' He said. 'Believe it or not, I do have a heart, as cold as it may be, and I would never, _ever_, fight against my family.'

'I can't believe this, the ferret really-' she was silenced by his hand once again.

'Those school yard bullshit insults are getting really lame you know. If you want to talk in some place more private about this, seeing as we have attracted the whole bar's attention, you could join me in my room, no surprises, no sex, just talk.' he said.

Hermione was appauled at the thought that he would even think of sex while in her presence, and she agreed, hoping that he really was telling the truth.

Draco paid for his drinks and hermione paid for hers, and then they left up the stairs for the rooms.

She entered a room that was very spacious and looked quite homey. there were pictures up on the walls, and the linnens were green and silver "typical slytherin" she thought. Off to one side was a kitchen and a door that leaded off to what she assumed was the washroom, and on the other was his bedroom which was separated by a fine netting that sparkled in the sun that was entering from the sitting area window at the back of the room.

'Nice place' she said nervously.

'No need to be nervous' Draco said. 'Have a seat' He indicated the sofas in the sitting area.

'Alright, so aparently you do have a heart, afterall you are considering a _mudblood's_ feelings. Why did you want to bring me here?'

'I was wondering if you could help me out of a tight spot. I am supposed to be attending a ball in four weeks time. I have asked all of my former classmates, and they all said that they had another date. It is supposed to be for purebloods only.' he paused there.

'Then why are you asking me? I am not a pureblood.' she asked

'I realise that, thats why I want to ask you now, get you trained in all the ways that a pureblood behaves, There is no difference in the blood, its just heritage. There arent any tests that they can do to determine wether or not you are pure or not. I am begging you.' with that he got down on both knees in front of her.

'Whats in it for me?' she asked.

'I could get your WIMIC changed to show that you are pure blood, or half blood or anything really.' he said.

'Why would I want that?' she asked offended.

'You will notice that that people who's cards read pure get treated with greater respect. It's the truth, you will notice that there are even sections in book shops that are for those who have pure blood.' Draco said.

'Why is this ball so important?' she asked, trying to find a reason not to accept his offer.

'It is the celebration of the dark lords return. It will be five years ago on that night.' he said. 'If i don't go, I will most likely be murdered, because I am a pureblood who's family supports his cause.'

'So there will be Death Eaters there? They will recognise me.' she said

'No they won't. Everyone present will be wearing a mask, its to symbolise anonymity. Nobody who is a death eater knows who all the other supporters are.' he replied with a desperate look on his face

'Its getting late in the afternoon and I have some shopping to do. I will consider your offer and I will get back to you. How long will you be staying here?' she asked

'I own this flat. I decided it was time I get out of the house, and it was getting boring, not being able to do anything for myself.'

Hermione was shocked. Having a flat in Diagon alley was like having a mansion in New York city's Central Park. It simply didnt exist.

'Well then, I will stop by when I have my decision.' she said

'Thats fine. I am willing to wait a little longer, I can be very patient at times.' he said as he walked with her towards the door. 'Thank you for even considering it.'

She left the bar and headed towards the main street in Diagon Alley, and noticed a few signs in some windows she hadn't noticed earlier.

_Half-Bloods or Higher standards only._

_SALE:  
Purebloods-25 off  
Halfbloods-15 off  
Mudbloods- regular price._

It was then that she realised that living as a muggle-born witch would be harder than she expected. She found a seccond-hand book shop with no standard signs and found herself a book and a seat and began to read about the perfect life of a rich pureblood witch.


	3. A Discovery or two

**A discovery or two**

Hermione lay awake for hours that night wondering what to do about the WIMIC situation. She was contemplating whether or not to go to the ball with Draco.

'It's just one night' she thought to herself. 'One night in exchange for the rest of my life. No more being discriminated against.'

The Weasley's were in the breakfast nook in the kitchen the next morning when she woke up. She thought of what she wanted for breakfast as she made her way over to the white stove with the frying pan. She flipped her pancake and then got herself the other seat at the nook.

'Whats on your schedule today Hermione?' asked Fred.

'Oh, I was just thinking of going out looking for a job today.' She replied.

The twins exchanged knowing looks with eachother, and Hermione caught this.

'What?' She asked "Don't you think I can get a job?'

'Well, it's the fact that you are muggleborn that will make it difficult for you.' Said George cautiously.

'Well I don't see what the problem will be. I am perfectly qualified to do any job whatsoever.'

'Its just… well… I can see that you are determined. Just be careful Hermione.' Said Fred.

When she left the house and made her way to Diagon Alley, she couldn't get the words out of her head 'Just be careful Hermione.'

'I will' she whispered to no one in particular as she made her way toards the Leaky Cauldron.

She waved a cheerful hello to Tom and went on her way to Draco's room. She knocked and waited, wondering if she was doing the right thing.

When he answered the door, it was obvious that he had just gotten out of the shower, because his shirt wasn't fully buttoned and his hair was still wet.

'I see that you have returned. Have you gotten an answer?' He asked as he moved aside for her to step inside.

'Yes, I will go to the ball with you.' She said unenthusiastically.

'First lesson: Speak properly. You must sound enthused at all times, with no dragging sound in your voice.' He said simply.

'And how exactly am I supposed to do that?' She asked

'At least make it seem like you want to be here. I know that you would probably want to do anything other than this to get your "status" changed, but you know, this wont be all bad.' He said.

'Alright. But please don't try to change me too much. I hate it when people do that.'

'Deal, just as long as you can act in the proper manner at the ball. I have a practice party lined up, and with some of that hair slicker that you used for the ball in our fourth year, then not a soul will recognize you.'

'There is one more thing.' She hesitated as she said this. 'I cant dance.'

'Well, that will be a bit of a problem, now wont it.' He said with a saddened tone.

'Yes, but I am sorry I wasted your time. I will…'

'Oh no missy, you aren't going anywhere. Like I said, I am in a pickle, and you are my only way out of it. I won't let something like you not knowing how to dance stop you. I am going to teach you how to dance.'

'You, Draco Malfoy, would honestly try and teach me to dance? I am like a duck with 4 left feet. Impossible. I know.' She smiled at Draco and he returned the same smile.

' Meet me back here tomorrow at noon. I have to go sort out a few details about the dancing and getting you fitted.'

'Oh, please, don't bother with the fitting. I don't really need it I don't think.' She said.

'Yes, you do. Every woman at this ball gets specially fitted and they have a registry so that nobody gets the same dress. Yours of course will be custom, but it will be registered all the same.'

'I really don't-'

'Yes, You do need it.' Draco said, cutting her off. 'And you and I will have to make a few appearances before the ball within the week leading up to it, so I will supply you with ample money to go shopping for clothes for those occasions.' He handed her a small bag of money.

'And you will need to be telling the Weasley's something, a reason for you being away all of the time.'

'Yes, I told them that I was going out job hunting today.' She said.

'Well, that will go perfectly. Tell them that you found a job being someone's personal assistant, that way if they ask who, you can say that they wish to remain anonymous to the world at the time.'

'Won't it seem a little too suspicious?'

'I am sure it will not. They haven't always been known to mark things down for being scams.' He said. 'However performing the scams is a completely different answer.'

'I will come back tomorrow.' She said. 'Noon.'

'I promise I will get your card changed. Why you didn't just check pureblood or half-blood to begin with, I shall never know.'

When she headed back towards what she called home, she noticed a group of middle aged witches gathered around the Weasley's shop. She approached the building herself, and noticed that they had converted half of their shop into a home decorating shop.

'Paint that will go on anything, I do say. I just don't understand why we cant magic it up?' Said one witch with a child.

'The powers from magic will mess up the magic that is in the a paint. It is a very complex composition.' Said Hermione.

'And what would you know about this stuff and putting it up?' the witch asked.

'Well seeing as I live with the Weasley's, and seeing as I grew up with muggles, I dare to say that I know quite a bit about it.' She said.

Hermione walked into the shop and found it bustling with the usual young kids, but also with a large group of witched and wizards mingling about.

'I see you have decided to open the home décor bit of your business?' She asked Fred as she approached the counter.

'Yes, we say the effects that it had on you, so we decided to sell it.'

'Well, where do they get the muggle painting supplies from?' she asked.

'We invested into a small company, just outside of the ally, and they sell paint supplies there, they save 25 off of all things that they buy there while they have their coupons with them.' Said George just emerging from the back room dragging a kid by the ear.

'I caught this one trying to nick our invisibility hats. He thought that he could disappear.' He added on.

"We also get 25 of the money from sales when the customers present coupons there, but I'm sure they will be getting big business.' Said Fred.

When Hermione decided that it was time to grab something to eat it was already about 4 o'clock. She grabbed the small bacg of money that Draco had given her, and headed out to where the ice cream parlor used to be.

It was now converted into a small sandwich store, where they made you your sandwich right in front of your eyes. She ate the delicious ham and turkey sandwich and then decided to go for a peaceful walk around the alley.

She walked around, and looked at the different shop fronts. The shop that had formally been Olivander's was now called Crikey's Antiques, and through the window, she saw an odd assortment of different types of objects.

It was almost as though the shop was calling her name, so she walked through the front door and closed it to the sound of the bell ringing.

There was an old lady sitting behind the desk who hardly even noticed her entering the shop.

Hermione turned right and started looking around, at the different objects in the shop. On one side it was mostly old furniture and random trinkets, but on the other it was small, more interesting objects. She found a box of old wands from many years ago.

Each wand had a tag attached to it, stating the witch or wizard whom it belonged to. She was lookgin through them when she came across a familiar name.

'Merope Gaunt' was what the tag said. She picked up the wand and brought it over to the counter.

'Ah, I see you have an interest in old, beautiful things.' Said the lady in a soft whisper of a voice.

'Yes, it is beautiful. I was wondering how much it would cost?' Hermione asked.

'Well, seeing as I can tell that you are really interested, I say 7 galleons.'

'Well, I don't even know if this wand will work for the person I wish to buy it for, how about five galleons?'

'Alright' said the lady 'it's a deal. But keep your hands on this one, it is a real treasure.'

'Oh believe me, I will keep my hands on this one.' She whispered as she walked out of the shop.

Hermione then rushed back to her place and almost ran to her room. She took the wand out of the brown sachet the lady had supplied and examined it more closely.

On the handle there were small flowers almost emerging from the wood, and as her eyes traveled towards the tip of the wand she noticed that the flowers became golden in colour and smaller. She looked on the tip of the wand and she saw that there was a small flower there.

She then flipped the wand and saw, that on the base of the handle there was the Slytherin coat of arms.

I hope that I still have some people that will be interested in this story, even though it hasn't been updated for a while. I like the story line and I have decided to get back into writing it.


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